


The State of Lovers

by unquietspirit



Category: American Pickers RPF
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Episode Related, Missing Scenes, Multi, Polyamory, ot3 of junk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-16
Updated: 2013-04-16
Packaged: 2017-12-08 11:33:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/760865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unquietspirit/pseuds/unquietspirit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happened behind the scenes when Danielle hung up on the boys in The Mad Catter?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The State of Lovers

**Author's Note:**

> Some dialogue is taken from the episode. Many thanks to Silver_Queen, my beta.

Danielle followed the guys into the shop's parking lot, where the crew was waiting to film their departure. "I think you should go, like, make a trip to Ocean City when you're in Maryland-"

"Oh, we'll be eating some seafood, girl!" Mike interrupted cheerfully, lifting his suitcase (packed by her, of course) into the van.

She sighed. She had been about to suggest they bring her back a souvenir, but why bother? They were both too excited about getting on the road to notice her pursed lips, and it would only lead to Mike joking that they paid her enough already.

Frank handed Mike his bag before turning to give her a perfunctory hug. When he let go, Mike slid the van's door shut, leaned over, and kissed her on the lips. A few feet away, the director cleared his throat pointedly.

"Gotta give the editors something to do," Mike told him with a smile. Danielle rolled her eyes, at Mike more than Ian (who was, after all, only doing his job), and stepped back to a "just friends" distance.

"We should get going," said Ian.

"Yeah, go on," Danielle agreed. She watched them climb into their seats and slam the doors. "Your vitamins are in there," she reminded Frank.

"Gotcha," he said, as Mike honked the horn a couple of times and pulled out of the driveway.

Danielle's familiar sense of forlornness grew stronger the farther they went down the road, but she stayed there, waving dutifully, until Ian motioned her to stop.

"Amanda will be here at eight for the call tomorrow morning, okay?" he said. She nodded. The crew began loading up their own vehicles to follow the boys, and she went back into the shop, alone.

***

Frank had been looking forward to this trip for weeks, so it just figured that Mike would have a bug up his ass on their first day out. He complained about the water pressure in the hotel's shower, the lack of variety in their breakfast buffet, and the strength of their coffee. Frank ignored him with the ease of long practice. It wasn't until they were waiting in the parking lot for the crew to be ready to leave that he got an idea of what had conjured it.

"Did Dani strike you as kinda distant last night?"

Frowning, Frank thought back on the phone call they'd made after checking into their room. "I think she was just tired. It was pretty late, especially with the time difference."

"I don't know." Mike leaned back against the van's hood with his arms crossed over his chest. "She seemed like she was in a bad mood when we left."

"She's _always_ in a bad mood when we leave."

"Yeah," he agreed quietly, looking away.

In Frank's opinion, he was worrying about it needlessly. Danielle got a little morose for a day or two at the start of every trip. He couldn't blame her. She was the one who was separated from them both, and she didn't have the thrill of picking to distract her from missing them. But she always showed the strength he admired and snapped out of it. It would be the same way this time.

Mike's grumpiness didn't dissipate, as he had hoped it would, after they got on the road. Instead, he criticized Frank's driving until Frank was seriously considering gagging him. He sent up a prayer of thanks when Danielle's phone call finally came. Now that the show had gotten so popular, the producers set up most of their picks beforehand, but they kept the details from him and Mike so Danielle was still the first to tell them where exactly they were headed and what to expect when they got there. Until she called, they just drove in the right general direction.

She sounded upbeat when they answered, and Frank shot Mike a told-you-so look that was probably hidden by his sunglasses. He saw him cheer up as they listened to her description of the lead.

"What's he got?" Mike asked.

Danielle began one of her long explanations. "He has stuff at the machine shop, and he has stuff at his house-"

"What stuff's he got in his house?" Frank interrupted, eager to be out of the van as soon as possible.

"I'm answering the question, but just give me a second here, because it's a very specific lead and it's complicated."

"I'm sorry, you're breaking up. What's he got?" Mike asked again, grinning.

"Okay, you know what?" Danielle snapped. "I sent you the coordinates on your phone. You're just going to have to go and figure this out on your own and find out what he's got. I am over it."

"Hey, we're just kidding!" Mike protested as the phone went silent.

"Hello?" Frank asked tentatively.

Mike frowned at the screen. "She hung up."

They both sat in shocked silence for a moment. Mike looked as rattled as Frank felt. Danielle had never hung up on them, no matter how much they teased her.

"It's just a storyline they didn't tell us about, man," Frank said, not sure if he was trying to convince Mike or himself.

"If it was a storyline, why wouldn't they tell us?"

"To make our reactions more authentic?" Frank suggested. "I don't know if you've noticed, but we're not exactly Oscar-worthy."

Mike shook his head. "Nah, I don't think they'd do that. Not with us and Dani. They know messing with our relationship is off-limits."

"Well, call Ian and find out."

"Yeah, I will," Mike said, dialing. When Ian answered, he said, "Dude, what's going on?"

"I was about to ask _you_ that!" Ian said. "Amanda just called and told me Danielle hung up on you guys and is refusing to do it over. You know your personal stuff isn't supposed to interfere with the show."

"So that wasn't planned?" Frank asked, just to be sure.

"No, that wasn't planned!"

"Okay," Mike said, "we'll just go with what we've got. Franky and I can talk to Danielle about it later."

Frank felt Ian's hesitation over the line. "Can you try talking her into doing it over now?"

"No. We'll use that one. It gives it a little mystery, not knowing exactly what we're going into," Mike said in his Executive Producer voice. It wasn't often that he pulled rank on the directors, but he was very effective at it. Ian backed down with an uncertain "if that's what you want," and they ended the call. Immediately, Mike sighed, slumping down into his seat. "So now we're going to a pick and we don't even know what's there."

"I hope it's a good pick," said Frank. They both needed the distraction more than ever now.

"I hope she's not really mad at us," Mike replied. He took his sunglasses off and spent the rest of the ride silently looking out his window.

***

Danielle's phone call was in the back of Mike's mind all through the pick, dulling his excitement about the items they found, and he wasn't alone, from the way Frank kept rolling his shoulders like he was pushing something off them. Their relationship, with each other and with Danielle, had always been full of bickering and teasing. It was a very helpful habit when they wanted to get away with seeming sibling-like to their audience. Of course they took it too far and got on each other's nerves sometimes, but that was usually the start of the yelling, not the end of communication. All of them were determined to still be together after the show ended, no matter how difficult it was. Or so Mike had thought.

He and Frank had trouble summoning the proper amount of energy for their recap interviews. Ian stopped them after a few takes and said, "Never mind, we'll do them tomorrow. Let's call it a day." Gratefully, Mike climbed into the van and set the GPS to guide them back to their hotel.

"Think we should call her now?" Frank asked as they pulled onto the road.

"Not here," Mike said. He pointed to the three cameras fixed to the windshield and dashboard, which were recording them constantly when they were in the van. Final say on what footage went into the show came to them, but he didn't want the call seen by the producers and editors. Some things were too private.

Frank looked directly into the camera on his side, then back at Mike. "Yeah, better wait."

They had dinner with the crew at a restaurant near the hotel and then went to their room.

"Now?" Frank asked.

"Let me take a shower first, wash the road dust off."

He was stalling, and he knew Frank saw right through him, but he just said, "Okay, after showers."

It was an hour later when they settled down on the king-sized bed, both of them stretched out facing each other in clean t-shirts and boxers. Mike checked that his cell was still on speakerphone, took a deep breath, and called Danielle.

"Hey."

Well, she had answered. That was a good sign. "Hey, Dani D," he said, trying to sound normal. "We, uh, just, y'know... we wanted to talk about- about what happened earlier."

"How did the pick go?" she asked. It was such a usual question, it threw Mike off. For a second, he couldn't remember a single thing about the pick. Frank saw his blank look and spoke up.

"It was great. We both bought swords. We're going to send you one of them to have appraised."

"Fine," Danielle said, stilted. "I'm pretty tired, so if that's it-"

"No," Mike interrupted, afraid she was going to hang up again. "We wanted to talk about the... y'know, the phone call."

"Oh. That."

Frank exchanged a worried glance with him. "So was that just, you had a bad morning, or what?"

There was silence from the phone again, though this time the display showed that the call was still ongoing. When he couldn't stand it anymore, Mike said, "We know we tease you a lot, honey, but you're usually okay with it."

Finally, she spoke. "Yeah, it was a bad morning, like Frank said."

"Dani?" Mike asked carefully.

"What?"

"You sounded like you were acting just then."

They heard her sigh, and another pause, before she blurted, "It's hard when I call and you guys sound like you're having so much fun -- not that I don't _want_ you to have fun, but it's still hard. And I know I could never have the same bond as you two, and I don't want to get between you, but sometimes it's like that van is your clubhouse and you climb in there and hang the 'No Girls Allowed' sign."

"Is this about you wanting to go picking more?" asked Frank, suspicious.

"No, this isn't about wanting to go picking more!" Danielle nearly shouted. "This is about how you two have known each other more than twice as long as I've known either of you, and you've been together for most of that time, and I can't compete with that! And then you go off and leave me behind and I feel like... like I'm optional and I don't _fit_ in this relationship." Her voice broke on the last word.

Mike stared at Frank, feeling like he'd just been slapped. This had clearly been building for much longer than he'd realized, and he hated it when Danielle cried. "Dani, we don't think you're optional at all," he managed.

"Yeah, and we're really, really sorry you feel that way," Frank added earnestly, leaning over the phone. "You don't _need_ to compete with how long we've been together, or our bond, or whatever, because we're two-hundred percent better with you around than we ever were without you."

"We really are, honey" Mike affirmed. "And we miss you a lot when we're away."

She sniffed. "It doesn't feel that way, sometimes."

"Well, okay, so what can we do to change that?" Mike, ever the problem-solver, asked.

"I don't know," she said unsteadily. "I _would_ like to spend more time together, but that can't happen until we're out of production for the season. I'd just like... some sort of evidence that you're thinking of me when you're gone. It doesn't have to be expensive souvenirs. It could be seashells from the beach, or rocks, or rusty bolts, I don't care."

"Okay, we can do that," Frank said. "And what if we called you more often? Like, during the day?"

"Yeah, that would help," said Danielle, her voice still tearful.

Mike felt his heart wrench, listening to it. "I wish we were there right now, girl. We'd do a big ol' cuddle pile with you."

He heard her laugh weakly. "That sounds nice."

"While we're talking, is there anything else that's bothering you?" Frank asked.

"You could stand to be a bit more grateful about me packing your suitcases," she said, sounding  like herself again, "but I'm not expecting miracles here."

"Yeah, baby steps," Mike grinned. "I _did_ make sure Franky took his vitamins today, though."

"Oh, good. Thank you."

Apropos of nothing, Frank said, "Hey, you know Sturgis is coming up."

"Um... yeah?" Danielle asked, echoing Mike's confusion.

"No, I mean, I'm going to be gone for a week," he explained, pointing at himself, "so why don't you two go out picking instead?"

Mike's frown cleared. "Good idea," he mouthed to Frank, while Danielle considered it.

"It'd be fun," she said, "but I was thinking something with all _three_ of us and no cameras."

That was when Mike had an idea of his own. "Do we have any leads in South Dakota?"

"Uh-oh," said Frank, quirking an eyebrow. "That's the Mike's Got a Plan voice."

"It's a good plan!" Mike insisted. He was excited just thinking about it. "We line up killer picks in South Dakota, and when me and Dani are done hitting them, we swing up to Sturgis and spend some time together with just the three of us. What do you think, Dani?"

"I think it sounds awesome! Do you mind us crashing your party, Franky?"

"Honey, I'd be delighted to have you two there," Frank said.

Mike reached over and squeezed his upper arm. "So, is it a deal?"

"What about Cineflix?" asked Danielle.

"Leave that to me," Mike said, letting go of Frank to wave off the problem of talking their production company into it. He'd go toe-to-toe with them over prioritizing his relationship any day.

"Okay, deal!" Danielle said.

He looked at Frank, who nodded. "Deal."

"Let's three-way fist bump on it," Mike said. "Fist bump the phone, Dani."

She laughed. "On the count of three. One... two... three."

Mike's and Frank's knuckles met over the bedcovers, forming a triangle with the phone.

"Done," Frank said.

"And in the meantime, girl," said Mike, bringing the phone closer to his mouth, "just remember that our favorite part of the pick is taking all the stuff home to you and seeing the beautiful smile on your face when we show you what we got."

"Awwww," she cooed. "Franky?"

"Yeah?"

"Give him a big, wet smooch for me."

Frank, of course, dove for Mike's ear with his tongue hanging out. Mike yelped and dodged, and the phone, ringing with Danielle's laughter, ended up sandwiched between them somehow. Mike pushed Frank off of him and rescued it before they accidentally hung up on her. "He tried to give me a direct willie!"

"You are such children," Danielle said fondly.

"Yeah, and it's our bedtime, Mama," said Mike, glancing at the alarm clock. "Good night, honey. Love you."

"Love you, honey," Frank chimed in.

"I love you, boys. Sweet dreams."

Mike ended the call and reached over Frank to put the phone on the nightstand. "That could've gone worse," he said as they crawled under the covers.

"Yeah, way worse."

Frank shifted closer to the middle of the bed, and Mike glanced at the empty space on his other side, where Danielle should've been, before he turned the lamp off.


End file.
